The present invention relates generally to a card game and method of playing a card game, and more particularly, to a poker game including a wagering scheme therefor.
A card game known as “Let-It-Ride® Poker” is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,081 (Breeding). Let-It-Ride Poker is available from Shuffle Master, Inc., Las Vegas Nev. Breeding encompasses a family of patents and continuations related to the Let-It-Ride concept including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,417,430; 5,437,462; 6,273,424; 5,544,892; 6,019,374; 6,299,534; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0009799. Multiple-action wagering card games are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,429 (LeVasseur).
The concept of Let-It-Ride Poker is to make a winning poker hand, usually a pair of tens or better, from a player's three-card hand plus two hole-cards. The composite five-card hand is dealt with no redraw. Once all cards are revealed, whatever wagers that are remaining on the table are paid according to a predetermined payout table that indicates what hands are winning hands. Let-It-Ride is played on a table very similar to blackjack, but instead of blackjack's one wagering circle per hand, Let-It-Ride has three wagering circles. Before the cards are dealt, each player must place an equal wager in each circle. After wagers are placed, each player is dealt three cards face down and two hole-cards are also dealt face down in front of the dealer. Players must wait for the dealer's signal before they pick up their cards. Players are then allowed to use only one hand to look at their cards and it is not permitted to look at any other player's hands. The game starts with the player to the dealer's left. After a player looks at their own three-card hand, they have the option to either take down their first wager or to Let-It-Ride. If a player wishes to let the first wager ride, the player slides their cards face down under the wager in the first circle or simply tells the dealer to Let-It-Ride. After all the players have made a decision on their first wager, the dealer turns over the first hole-card. This first hole-card represents a fourth card for each player's own hand. Based upon this fourth card, each player then decides whether to take down the second wager or to similarly Let-It-Ride. Again, once all the players have made their decision regarding the second wager, the dealer then turns over the second hole-card which, in similar fashion, becomes the fifth card in each player's hand. If any player has a poker hand of a pair of tens or better, all the remaining wagers are paid according to a payout table that indicates what hands are winning hands. Players without paying hands lose whatever wagers still remain in play. The payout table includes a pair of tens or better, three of a kind, a straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind, a straight flush and a royal flush. The payout scheme in the payout table is usually progressively increased from a pair of tens through a royal flush. The Let-It-Ride game also includes a side wager for each hand where a player can wager, for example, a dollar and win a bonus payout for certain combinations of hands in addition to the payout table with respect to the hand of poker.
Additionally, there are many different types of game tickets known in the art. One conventional type of game ticket is associated with a pull-tab (pull-tab) game. In a pull-tab game, a set of game tickets, often referred to as a “deal of tabs” are created. There are a fixed amount of wins in each deal. The type and amount of wins are used to create the content of the pull-tab tickets. A typical pull-tab ticket has multiple tabs (“windows”) per game ticket that are initially hidden. Upon purchase, a player uncovers each of the pull-tabs to reveal images underneath the tabs to determine if the ticket is a winner. A winning pull-tab ticket may require the presence of a combination of symbols (similar to a slot machine), or the presence of a winning symbol under a single pull-tab. Machines have been created to automatically dispense and even validate pull-tabs. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,771 (Haste, III) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,299 (Clapper, Jr.). One commercially sold pull-tab machine is the Lucky Tab II machine, available from Diamond Game Enterprises, Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.
Electronic pull-tab machines also exist. These machines are electronically loaded with one or more electronic “digital deals” (i.e., an electronic version of a set of physical tickets). Unlike a lottery terminal or slot machine, the electronic pull-tab machine does not select the outcome; the pull-tab machine merely dispenses the set of tickets which have predetermined content that provides a predetermined outcome. The electronic pull-tabs are dispensed in a previously determined order, such as sequentially. A touch screen is often provided on such machines. Upon receipt of payment, a pull-tab appears on the touch screen and the player touches each tab or window to reveal its hidden content. A receipt is printed if the pull-tab is a winner. When all of the pull-tabs in each available deal are sold, new digital deals must be electronically loaded into the machine to allow for continued play. One example of a touch screen electronic pull-tab machine that dispenses “digital pull-tabs” is commercially available from Tekbilt USA, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. The digital deal is loaded into the Tekbilt USA machine using a floppy disk and security key.
It is desirable to provide a poker variant card game having push-up wagering (i.e., increasing a wager or increasing each of a plurality of wagers) instead of withdraw wagering. More particularly, in lieu of giving the option of withdrawing a wager after cards are dealt and/or after a hole-card is turned over, at each step the player is instead given the option to increase their preexisting wager, such as being able to double one of a plurality of wagers after some event takes place. Further, it is desirable to provide a pull-tap poker variant card game with push-up or increase wagering. Even further, it is desirable to provide an electronic poker variant card game with push-up or increase wagering.